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Seshū Shinnōke (世襲親王家) was the collective name for the fourcadet branches of theImperial family of Japan,[1] which were until 1947[2] entitled to provide a successor to theChrysanthemum throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal houses held the title of imperial prince (親王,shinnō), regardless of their genealogical distance from the reigningEmperor, as the termseshū in their designation meant that they were eligible for succession.
The Imperial family of Japan considers itself a single dynasty in unbroken succession; however, the succession has often not been directly from father to son, but has been in the male line within a closely related group of people. In theMuromachi period, Prince Yoshihito, the son of theNorthernEmperor Sukō was permitted to establish a parallel lineage to the main imperial line, and took the nameFushimi-no-miya from the location of his palace. Without this permission, the line would be considered commoners, and therefore excluded from the succession. This served politically to cement the reunification of the Northern andSouthern Court, but provided insurance in the extreme event that the main imperial line should fail to produce a direct heir and become extinct.
This proved to be a fortunate decision, as in 1428, the son of the 2nd Prince Fushimi-no-miya ascended the throne asEmperor Go-Hanazono.
In theEdo period, three additionalseshū shinnōke households were created by theTokugawa shogunate, in conscious imitation of the TokugawaGosanke.
However, aside fromEmperor Go-Hanazono, the only time a member of theseshū shinnōke ascended to the throne was in 1779, when the son of Prince Kan'in-no-miya Sukehito becameEmperor Kōkaku.
Within theseshū shinnōke households, younger non-heir sons (who were titled prince (親王,shinnō)), had two career options. They could "descend" to subject status with a surname such asMinamoto orTaira, and serve as a government official, or they could enter theBuddhist priesthood, generally as the head of one of themonzeki temples in and aroundKyoto. During the Edo period, the latter practice became almost universal. Non-heir sons who entered the priesthood were styled princely priest (法親王,hōshinnō), and were automatically excluded from the succession, but could be recalled to "secular" status (and thus reinstated as potential successors) if the need arose. Unwed daughters, once they crossed a certain age, often became Buddhist nuns. However, marriage was the norm for them, and they could hope to enter the highest houses of the land. The greatseshū shinnōke houses gave their daughters in marriage only to families of high rank, such as thekuge,daimyō orTokugawa houses, if not to the imperial family. During and after theMeiji Restoration, members of theseshū shinnōke, whether they were elder sons or younger sons, often served in theImperial Japanese Army orImperial Japanese Navy.
The fourseshū shinnōke were, in order of creation:
Thesixteenth son of Prince Kuniie, the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, succeeded to the Kan'in-no-miya house in 1872, but the house died out in 1988 on the death of his son.
The Fushimi-no-miya house was the progenitor of ten other cadet branches of the imperial family, theōke, during the reign ofEmperor Meiji. After the 25th Fushimi-no-miya, theseshu shinnōke ceased to exist.[further explanation needed] The current head of Fushimi-no-miya,Fushimi Hiroaki, has three daughters and no male heirs to carry on the family name and title. When he dies, the last remainingseshū shinnōke lineage will become extinct. Five of the original tenōke lineages still have male descendants.
Theshinnōke andōke households, along with thekazoku (Japanesepeerage) and theshizoku (Warrior families) were reduced to Japanese nationals (Nihon kokumin) status during theAmerican occupation of Japan, in October 1947.